You Down With “OSP”? Yeah, You Know Me!

Ovince St. Preux's professional MMA career took off in 2010. The former University of Tennessee Volunteers football player ended 2009 with a less than spectacular 3-4 record but went a perfect 6-0 in 2010, including four wins inside Strikeforce, that have this light heavyweight on the launch pad to explode into the MMA spotlight. (Photo courtesy of Dave Mandel and Sherdog)

“OSP” Ovince St. Preux (9-4) has been on quite a roll lately. He’s fought a half-dozen times in the past 12 months, winning all six of those fights – four of which were under the Strikeforce banner. Three of those four Strikeforce match-ups took place in just the seven weeks between mid-November 2010 and early January 2011 when he defeated very tough competition in “The Juggernaut” Antwain Britt (12-5), “The Razor” Benji Radach (19-6,) and “Abongo” Ron Humphrey (6-2). All in all Ovince is a perfect (4-0) inside the Strikeforce cage.

For those who might be behind the curve on who exactly Ovince St. Preux is, let’s take a look at where this budding star got his start. Ovince was a starting linebacker for the University of Tennessee Volunteers where he received a degree in Sociology. He made his professional MMA debut in September 2008 against future UFC fighter “Sho Nuff” Rodney Wallace (10-3) in Wallace’s hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. St. Preux dropped a Unanimous Decision in that fight, but he nonetheless continued on, making his sophomore effort less than three months later.

After being on the wrong end of the judges’ decisions in his first two professional fights, Ovince scored two big wins, competing in Tennessee’s first ever sanctioned event in 2009, where in front of 5300 screaming fans on the University of Tennessee campus he knocked out “CT” Robert Turner (7-6 ) via head kick just 2:36 into the fight. Next he defeated Ombley Mobley (0-1) via submission halfway through the opening stanza. Ovince St. Preux received some national recognition when his calf-slicer submission over Mobley was nominated by Inside MMA as Submission of the Year; OSP was honored as the runner-up.

Ovince St. Preux split his next four fights, going 2-2 and alternating wins and losses. First he lost a Unanimous Decision to Nik Fekete (3-0) then defeated Jonathon Smith (0-1) via first round submission in the same night with Vendetta Fighting Championship. Just three weeks later OSP suffered the first (and still the only) TKO defeat of his amateur or professional career thanks to the hands of Virgil Zwicker (6-3). He seemingly took it out on his next opponent “Bedtime” Brett Chism (13-10) five months later in February 2010, knocking out the veteran barely over a minute into the bout.

Ovince St. Preux (Top) has been seemingly unstoppable since his brutal KO of Chris Hawk (Bottom). (Photo courtesy of Dave Mandel and Sherdog)

When the fight ended, Strikeforce came calling. Ovince made his debut for Strikeforce on the main card of the “Hendo” Dan Henderson (26-8) vs. Jake Shields (26-4) event and knocked out Chris Hawk (4-5) just 47 seconds into the fight. From that point, Ovince St. Preux has literally been unbeatable, putting on clinics against Britt, Radach, and Humphrey respectively and earning the judges’ decisions, and has become a fixture at light heavyweight for Strikeforce.

St. Preux was incredibly active in 2010 and for the moment is taking a much deserved break. When his next opponent is announced, it may reasonably be expected to be someone in the top tier of the talent rich 205lbs. division. Potential upcoming opponents for “OSP” include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion “Babalu” Renato Sobral (33-10), seasoned veteran and UFC alum Trevor Prangley (22-6), or perhaps NCAA Div. I wrestler “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal (7-1). OSP is an up-and-coming star in the sport of mixed martial arts, and the sky is the limit for this talented fighter.

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